Press on Your Side: Long Branch couple hounded over check that already cleared

Ed Labry, executive vice president and president of North America for First Data Corp., speaks at a 2011 event. A Long Branch couple ran into trouble recently when First Data subsidiary TeleCheck didn't recognize that a check run through one of its machines was valid.

A shopping trip for a hat and several boxes of chocolate turned into a nightmare for Fred and Barbara Petersen of Long Branch.

There was nothing warm or sweet about what would typically be an ordinary transaction at a store.

At the register, Petersen paid for his $46.19 order with a check. The cashier at the Kmart in West Long Branch ran his check through a TeleCheck machine to make sure it was valid.

At first, she had a little trouble, telling him it did not work. "But then she tried again and it printed on the check and she took it, gave us a receipt and we left," Fred Petersen said.

About two weeks later, the Petersens got a collection notice from TRS Recovery Services Inc. The notice said their check bounced and they were to pay $76.19, which represents $46.19 for the check and a $30 returned check fee.

"Until this is resolved, TeleCheck may not approve your checks or the opening of a checking account at more than 300,000 merchants and banks who use TeleCheck nationally," the notice said.

Barbara Petersen called TRS and was told there was nothing they could do. They offered to fax a copy of the check, which had been deposited by Kmart and had cleared the bank. "They restated that this would do no good," Fred Petersen said in an email.

Smartly, the Petersens went to Sovereign Bank in Little Silver for more help. A bank employee wrote a letter, detailing the check "successfully cleared" and was paid on Dec. 11 for $46.19. As part of the letter, which was faxed to TRS, Sovereign attached a copy of the check.

The couple called TRS the next day to find out whether a representative got the letter, only to be given a phone number that didn't work. "We called again and got another number that was not working either," Fred Petersen said.

Kmart wasn't able to help. At the store, the Petersens were given a number for TRS, but it was a service number for store use only.

The Petersens have had a run of bad luck lately.

Their first floor of their house was flooded by superstorm Sandy, so they are living on the second floor while repairs are made. Two weeks before the storm, their Ford Escape, parked in front of the house, was damaged beyond repair by a hit-and-run driver.

"This though has been really upsetting, since we know we are right and no one wants to listen," Fred Petersen said.

They contacted Press on Your Side. "We would greatly appreciate any help you could give us in this matter," Petersen said.

Press on Your Side reached out to First Data Corp., a payments-processing company and corporate parent for TRS and TeleCheck.

The Petersens' situation, along with a copy of the Kmart receipt, check, bank letter and collection notice, was emailed to a spokeswoman who promised to look into the matter.

The result was good news for the Petersens. First Data realized there was an error and corrected it.

"An investigation of this matter revealed that a technical error occurred in the processing of this payment transaction that resulted in Mr. Petersen's paper check being placed for deposit and then into the collection process," First Data spokeswoman Kwiyoung Baumgarten said in a statement to Press on Your Side.

"No charges or fees were assessed to Mr. Petersen, the inaccurately reported debt record has been corrected, and Mr. Petersen should not experience further collection activity from TRS."

The company also regretted any inconvenience the error caused Petersen.

Last week, a TRS representative contacted the Petersens and was given more information about the situation and their "poor experience" with the TRS customer service telephone numbers, Baumgarten siad.

"Their customer experience is unacceptable to us, and we will test the phone numbers the Petersens called (once they share them with us) with the goal to review and improve how calls are handled," Baumgarten wrote in an email.

"In a couple of days, they will also be receiving a letter from TRS that confirms in writing that the situation has been resolved without charges/fees or any other financial impact to the Petersens, as well as a written apology," she said.

The Petersens were happy it was resolved in their favor. "Wow, that's great," Fred Petersen said. "I couldn't even get anybody to talk to."

"After the flood, it seemed like one thing after another," Barbara Petersen said.

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Press on Your Side: Long Branch couple hounded over check that already cleared

A shopping trip for a hat and several boxes of chocolate turned into a nightmare for Fred and Barbara Petersen of Long Branch.

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